Sweavo's Hatstand

Instructions for making a great gimmick where a hat comes with its own built in hatstand

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Photo by Stoney

Well, if you are interested in making one of these, I must start with
the standard disclaimers. Not only might your mileage vary, but my
mileage wasn't very good in the first place.

The hatstand made its debut at chocfest 7, where I was compering.
After a period of prototyping and refining, I built the version that
worked. I demoed this a couple of times then it broke. I replaced the
elastic and set it up for the big day, used it on stage and it worked,
then broke next time I used it.

Be prepared to spend significant tinkering time in between uses, and
for frequent breakdowns. That said, it's never let me down when I've
needed it.

To operate the hatstand, simply take off the hat and hold it at around
the right height. I find that the trunk and legs lock out but
generally not all the legs lock into the junction. This is easily
fixed by grasping the trunk and giving a gentle stirring motion.

All in all I've found it a great way to get chicks[1], if you don't count the long evenings spent honing the design and strewing the house with geeky construction equipment, and the fact you'll be laughed out of most nightclubs if you go in wearing a topper. But on stage it works, and it has drawn admiring glances from fellow jugglers and even won us a bag full of croissants on one occasion.